At least 22 Americans have been killed by Hamas and more than 20 remain missing following the terrorist attack in Israel, officials said.
President Biden revealed the latest update Tuesday and said his office remains steadfast in securing the safety of Americans aboard as he confirmed US citizens are among the more than 150 people kidnapped by Hamas.
“I’ve directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery and recovery efforts because as president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world,” Biden said.
While little information is currently available on the dead and missing, reports have confirmed the identity of three Americans who were killed in the terrorist attack, as well as seven who have gone missing.
The dead include a mother who shielded her child from gunfire, a renowned academic, and a fun-loving music festival attendee.
DeborahMatias, 50
Deborah Matias, a Missouri native, was in Israel when she and her family were attacked by Hamas terrorists, her father, Ilan Troen, told CNN.
The retired Brandeis University professor said Matias and her husband, Troen, hid in their family’s safe room with their 16-year-old son, Rotem.
Unfortunately, Hamas troops were able to break in and fired at the family, with Matias and her husband using their bodies to protect Rotem from the gunfire.
The mother and father were killed, but Rotem was able to survive despite being shot in the abdomen.
Hayim Katsman, 32
Hayim Katsman, who received his PhD from the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies in 2021, was living in Holit and busy with his research when Hamas attacked his village near the Gaza Strip.
Although family members held out hope that the academic was alive but abducted, a friend who survived the massacre confirmed that Katsman was shot and killed by the terrorists.
Avital Alajem, who hid with Katsman inside a closet, said Katsman sacrificed himself so she could escape, and she in turn was able to save two children kidnapped by Hamas.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
Katsman was a renowned religious scholar whose dissertation focused on religious Zionism in Israel. He was dedicated to serving “all life forms that exist between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea,” according to the Seattle Times.
Lotan Abir, 24
Lotan Abir, of Utah, was attending the Nova Music Festival near the Gaza Strip when more than 50 Hamas terrorists paraglided in and slaughtered more than 260 partygoers.
Abir, described by his local rabbi as a “fun-loving” young man, was partying at the festival with friends from Utah’s close-knit Jewish community.
“He ultimately gave up his life for the sake of our people at a rave while celebrating some of his greatest passions in life. … Just a kind, sweet, fun-loving, innocent soul who was massacred by a terrorist,” Rabbi Avremi Zippeltold the Salt Lake Tribune.
Abir had moved to Utah in 2022 to settle down after completing his military service in Israel.
Adrienne Neta, 66
Grandmother Adrienne Neta is among the American citizens currently unaccounted for following the extremists’ attack in Israel.
Neta’s daughter fought back tears during a conference Tuesday about the moment her mother called her when terrorists broke into her home in Be’eri.
“We heard a little bit of screaming, and that was our last contact with her,” he said.
“It is our hope, which is a little bit ridiculous at this stage to say, that the optimistic scenario here is that she’s held hostage in Gaza and not dead on the street of the kibbutz where we grew up,” the son said.
Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Raanan
Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Raanan, of Illinois, were visiting family in the village of Nahal Oz, bordering the Gaza Strip, when they vanished Saturday.
Judith’s brother and Natalie’s father said they hadn’t heard from the duo and feared they were abducted by the terrorists.
“My daughter and her mother has been [captured] by the HAMAS,” father Uri Raanan saidin a desperate Facebook post.
Hersh Golberg-Polin, 23
Hersh Golberg-Polin, of California, was also attending the Nova rave when terrorists blew off his arm, with the injured man sending heartbreaking texts of “I love you,” to his family before disappearing.
His mother, Rachel Goldberg, told CNN that her son was among those trying to save others and fight back against Hamas before being wounded.
“Terrorists came to the door, they were throwing grenades in, shooting machine guns,” she said. “We know Hersh’s arm from the elbow down was severed, was blown off, and that he tied a tourniquet around with his shirt.”
Her son was then hauled away on the back of a truck by Hamas, Goldberg said.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35
Sagui Dekel-Chen, of Connecticut, vanished from the Nir Oz kibbutz as soon as the massacre started Saturday morning.
His father, Johnathan, joined the families of the missing Americans to call on the US to do whatever it could to help reunite his clan and stop Hamas.
“It seems to me that the United States, my original home and still a very beloved place for me, always wants to be and must be on the side of good. Hamas is evil,” said Johnathan, who grew up in Connecticut.
Itay Chen, 19
Itay Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen, went missing Saturday while serving in the Israeli army along the Gaza border, his father Ruby said.
Ruby, a New York native, said he hasn’t heard from her son since his unit was attacked by Hamas, and fears he may be among the IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hamas.
Ruby was among the concerned parents begging the US to help Israel locate and free the hostages taken by Hamas as soon as possible.
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“We are asking on behalf of my family, for President Biden, where we are sure his heart is in the right place when it comes to Israel, and Secretary of State, to do what they can to make this end for us as soon as possible.”
Laor Abramov, 20
Laor Abramov, of New Jersey, was hiding in an Israeli bomb shelter when he last contacted his family on the day of Hamas’ attack.
“He phoned his dad in the morning — my brother — in the morning around 7:30, saying, ‘People are shooting at us,’” Abramov’s aunt, Yael Abramov, told The Post on Tuesday.
“‘I am going into a missile shelter, a bomb shelter, and don’t worry,’” the aspiring DJ told his family. “‘I’m not going to be able to speak because it’s very noisy.’ After that, we didn’t know anything that was going on.”
After not hearing from him for hours, his family stumbled upon a photo of Abramov at a bomb shelter that fell under siege by Hamas, who fired at the civilians.
One of the survivors told Abramov’s family that the 20-year-old was taken by Hamas, who rounded up survivors and loaded them onto trucks.